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Saturday, January 23, 2010

It's shaping up to be a busy final semester for me in library school as I'm spending this semester doing an internship in one of my favorite libraries. Two years ago around this time, I was putting the finishing touches on my grad school application and now my graduation is just around the corner!

Instead of crafting, I've been doing lots of reading and cooking lately to occupy my time. Unfortunately, my knitting and sewing has been sidelined because of a wrist injury. Hopefully the hand doctor will be able to help me out on Monday becauseI've been going through knitting withdrawal these last two weeks!

I've been trying to use the cookbooks in my collection rather than just acquire new books (just like in the putting your idea books to use challenge), so in the last two months my sister and I have been baking cookies from the new vegan cookbook, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. So far we've made Chocolate Fudgy Oatmeal Cookies, Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles, Spiced Sweet Potato Blondies, Lazy Samoas, Chocolate Chip Chai Spice Shortbread, Caramel Pecan Bars, and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies. The Lazy Samoas recipe alone makes thie cookbook worth purchasing! Samoas are my favorite Girl Scout cookies and these cookies were so much better than the packaged version.

The crowd favorite so far has been the Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles, so here's my adjusted recipe for those.

Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Cookie Ingredients:

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

3 tablespoons non-dairy milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon of cayenne (add more, up to 1/2 teaspoon, if you can handle the heat)

Cookie topping:

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Mix together oil, sugar, syrup, and milk in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add in the vanilla extract.

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl and sift into wet ingredients. Mix the dough together until it is pliable.

In a separate bowl or shallow plate, mix together the cookie topping ingredients.

Roll the dough into walnut-size balls and roll around in the sugar mixture. Place the cookie onto the baking sheet and lightly press the top to flatten. Place cookies 2" apart from each other and bake for 10-12 minutes until they are crackly on top. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

I love vegan cookies--they are so what I am going for these days. I've been spending the afternoons fiddling around with my recipes to try and vegan-ize them with mixed success. I am so excited that you are in your last semester of grad school--it is the best one!!!

That's a bummer about your wrist. I had carpel tunnel surgery on both hands so I can relate. Let's hope it heals quickly so you can get back in the crafting game. Your cookies look so good. Right now, I'm trying to convince my boys to bake something (there's nothing sweet in the house). Maybe if I show them your cookie picture, they'll get motivated. (It's hard being the chief cook, cleaner, laundress, etc. around here -- if only they would make me cookies!).

Thanks for sharing this! I have recently become friends with someone who is vegan and I always feel bad that I do not know anything to bake when she comes over! This is definitely on my list of books to check out.

About Me

Rebekah began quilting in 2006 after being inspired by the book Modern Quilt Workshop by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr. She loves shopping for fabric and combining interesting prints and colors in her quilts. As a member of the Detroit Area Modern Quilt Guild, Rebekah coordinates the monthly charity block sew-along. When she's not quilting, Rebekah works as a librarian, backpacks and travels with her husband, Jon, plays with her adorable cat and pug, and knits and cross stitches.